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Roku CEO Calls Apple TV a 'Money Loser', Says Product is 'Essentially' an Accessory for iPad

Roku CEO Calls Apple TV a 'Money Loser', Says Product is 'Essentially' an Acc...

macfacts said:
When Apple first showed the iPad Mini, the whole presentation was about it vs the Nexus 7.



Also, this mythical TV from Apple has been vaporware for many years. The current AppleTV is also very feature limited, can't play all video formats, can't work with non-apple devices, can't run ios apps.
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No. Actually the presentation was all about the new Apple products that the company launched that October. There was no explicit mention of competitors by Phil Schiller who introduced it or by Tim who came before him. Perhaps you need to watch the presentation again?
 
I have 2 Apple TVs and one Roku.

I ONLY use my Apple TV now to stream from iTunes or to rent a movie since I have a ton of credit.

For everything else - I use the Roku 3. Love it for a few reasons..

1) Ability to use external storage
2) Access to tons of great channels/content
3) Remote has a headphone jack so I can watch without running headphones to the TV
4) PLEX
5) Search - want to see something with an actor, subject, title - Roku searches across channels/content to show you where you can find it.

Those asking "Roku who" really do live in a bubble. Sales are equal if not greater than Apple TV.
 
irnchriz said:
I have 3 Apple TV's and 0 Roku boxes. I also have an ever growing library of TV shows and Movies in my iTunes. All that matched with Airplay from my MacBooks and iOS devices makes the Apple TV invaluable.

Even looking rationally at the comment itself, "Apple TV is essentially an accessory for the iPad. They lose money, which is unusual for Apple,"

A) I seriously doubt Apple lose any money on the Apple TV costs.
B) An accessory for iPad? Works with iPhones too and aren't their like 500 million of them out there? along with tens of millions of iPads. Nice market to cater for.

This all sounds like the final ramblings of a company about to go out of business when Amazon launch their set top box.
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:rolleyes:

He's the CEO of an Apple TV competitor. He'd be kind of an idiot to come out saying anything other than what he has.

Also, you buying 3 Apple TVs isn't an indicator that Roku is doing something wrong. Given your defensive reaction to this story, you're likely a tribal consumer. It will take a stellar marketing campaign to move a consumer like you from one brand to another.
 
"accessory for ipad" is a bizarre comment. based on what, the fact that they're capable of playing nice together (airplay)?
 
MrMichaelJames said:
Is this line right here:

"Our goal is to be the operating system for TV."

I don't think anyone WANTS roku built into their tv. Usually in the past the apps built into tv's are crap, the processor is too slow, they never get updated and they are buggy. I personally would rather buy a new roku every 2-3 years at $99 a pop to get updated hardware and abilities than have to buy a new tv because the built in sofware doesn't run fast anymore because its become bloated and isn't supported.
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Do you own a Roku?

Updates are pushed out on a regular basis. The reason to buy a newer device are spec bumps.

Not only does the OS get updated. But each developer has the ability to update their channel anytime and it gets pushed out immediately.
 
Such an odd statement on several levels.

It is not an extension of my iPad, but rather my iMac. A substantial difference. I wonder how many use it iPad only?

Second, so what if 'just' an iPad extension. iPads are phenomenally popular, it would make sense for Apple to make compatible or supporting products.

On a personal level, I have both the aTV and Roku. I like the aTV better (looks cleaner, simpler, and snappier) but I can do more with the Roku. We use the Roku almost daily, we use the aTV only weekly.

My favorite part of the Roku is the ability to search across all offerings as well as the fact no service is excluded.
 
irnchriz said:
I have 3 Apple TV's and 0 Roku boxes. I also have an ever growing library of TV shows and Movies in my iTunes. All that matched with Airplay from my MacBooks and iOS devices makes the Apple TV invaluable.

Even looking rationally at the comment itself, "Apple TV is essentially an accessory for the iPad. They lose money, which is unusual for Apple,"

A) I seriously doubt Apple lose any money on the Apple TV costs.
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They probably don't make big money on it. Most likely they break even. In effect AppleTV is the Razor blade handle.
B) An accessory for iPad? Works with iPhones too and aren't their like 500 million of them out there? along with tens of millions of iPads. Nice market to cater for.
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Either he doesn't understand AppleTV or he is intentionally trying to make the competition look bad.
This all sounds like the final ramblings of a company about to go out of business when Amazon launch their set top box.
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Exactly! The guy is feeling the heat.

About the only thing I don't like about AppleTV is the lack of success in the jailbreak world. That little box would be useful for all sorts of things beyond TV serving.
 
giantfan1224 said:
For someone that doesn't seem to have much patience for Apple Fanboys, you play a pretty good Roku pitchman.
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Fanboys in general are annoying. I love Apple products and own several, but every time someone wants to say something even remotely bad about Apple, true or not, fanboys race to their rescue.
 
Honestly, my favorite media device has always been the Xbox 360. I can store as many movies as I want on an external hard drive, OR stream from my Mac, OR stream from Netflix/Amazon/Hulu. Too bad the Xbox One doesn't have nearly the same media features (ironically..)
 
Apple TV is what the roku 3 is PLUS an accessory for the ifone/ipad...which is what gives it the edge in my opinion (not to mention itunes/icloud/home sharing content all being seamlessly and easily accessible on apple TV).

The ifone/ipad accessory part is actually a big edge. I have both the roku 3 and apple TV (actual several apple TVs). Both have great user friendly platforms and excellent hardware to get the job done, but being able to airplay from one source (generally my ipad or macbook air) to multiple different rooms makes Apple TV a clear winner.

I absolutely love airplaying spotify from my MBA to multiple Apple TVs connected to speakers and amps all over the house, because you have literally any song you desire at your fingertips and it works without a hitch. I've actually been doing that for serveral years since the 1st gen apple tv using Airfoil. It's a huge hit at parties to have literally any song you want at your fingertips, and have it stream in sync to different rooms.

I do have the roku in my bedroom because the remote with headfones jack is pretty awesome for watching tv at night when the wife is sleeping, and it works way better than infrared wireless headfones.
 
Brandon263 said:
No. Actually the presentation was all about the new Apple products that the company launched that October. There was no explicit mention of competitors by Phil Schiller who introduced it or by Tim who came before him. Perhaps you need to watch the presentation again?
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From the 5:40 mark, Phil Schiller talks about the Nexus 7, comparing it to the ipad mini for over 3 minutes.

 
bozzykid said:
People have estimated the $1 billion based on sales estimates. However, that is not profit. Like the Roku CEO said, it is doubtful they are making much money if any on these sales (he believes they are even losing money). So the aTV is much different than most Apple products, like the iPhone, which are huge profit makers.
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So how does Roku make money selling their set top boxes for the same or less when they have less control over the supply chain?
 
Why do people do this... don't put yourself up vs Apple this way, you will lose the loyal fans. Keeping your mouth shut and letting your product do the talking is the best approach. Learn to be humble... ffs!!
 
paradox00 said:
So how does Roku make money selling their set top boxes for the same or less when they have less control over the supply chain?
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I imagine that companies like Netflix, Hulu and all the other paid content are bringing revenue to Roku. In addition - there are sometimes ads for services (usually a new movie which is being featured on MGO, Netflix, HBO, etc) that sometimes appear on one side of the menu. I'm sure that bring in revenue as well.

As for the hardware - perhaps they are using less "custom" hardware and more "off the shelf" I don't know.

But those that think Roku is just going to disappear when Amazon releases their device and/or when there's a new Apple TV are misguided.
 
Roku's great

I have both a Roku and an AppleTV. Roku has FAR more channels than AppleTV and a unified search, which makes finding free content a lot easier. but AppleTV makes AirPlay possible. I see them as complimentary devices.
 
QCassidy352 said:
"accessory for ipad" is a bizarre comment. based on what, the fact that they're capable of playing nice together (airplay)?
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Consider this ... If someone has no other Apple products, why would they buy an AppleTV or why would an AppleTV be a better choice vs the Roku if you don't use iTunes?
 
Nevaborn said:
...but I know ATV is still in such early days and has so much more to offer.
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Early days? It is older than the iPhone and has barely progressed. I have had Gen 1 and 2 and I hardly use the 2 ever. My TV and Blue Ray player is more consistent than the ATV.
I have a 6TB raid server for audio and video and the ATV can't play squat because I use superior codecs ;) like flac and mkv. Until it can do either of those and it gets faster with better video output its just FUD to me.
 
samcraig said:
I imagine that companies like Netflix, Hulu and all the other paid content are bringing revenue to Roku. In addition - there are sometimes ads for services (usually a new movie which is being featured on MGO, Netflix, HBO, etc) that sometimes appear on one side of the menu. I'm sure that bring in revenue as well.

As for the hardware - perhaps they are using less "custom" hardware and more "off the shelf" I don't know.
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And Apple doesn't make money from that same paid content? How would "off the shelf" hardware be cheaper than Apple using chip designs that are mass produced for the iPhone? This was the first time that I've ever heard of Apple TV as a "money loser". It simply doesn't make sense. It seems like the Roku CEO just went and told a blatant lie.

But those that think Roku is just going to disappear when Amazon releases their device and/or when there's a new Apple TV are misguided.
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I never commented on that, and I won't now.
 
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